Breakdown
by amorae
Summary: Danny's under a lot of pressure, and things go from bad to worse when Valerie starts to wonder who Phantom was in his past life. Amity Park is in danger and needs their heroic Ghost Boy desprately. But Danny Phantom already having a breakdown...
1. Find Out

For my friend Kitten. With tons of love. 

This idea was from Kitten in the first place, and I'm forever grateful that she let me use it because this is gonna be fun! This is just the first chapter but I'm outlining this heavily in my head and I really think it's gonna be a fun fanfic to write.

I love yah, girly!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom. I am not Butch Hartman. I am Toast. Oh well. :D**

MORE TO COME! IT'S ACTUALLY NOT A ONESHOT--OR AS ROMANCY AS MY OTHER STORIES! YAAAY! WOOOOT! HOORAH!

-coughs-

Enjoy...

--EDIT-- I just realized I mentioned it was summer in this. I fixed that because it doesn't work well with the story anymore. Sorry for any confusion I may have caused. T.T

* * *

Danny Phantom was perched in a crouch position on the highest branches of a tree in the center of City Park. He wasn't afraid of being seen; he knew that there was no way anyone would see him. After all, it was an awesome lookout spot for any suspicious ghost activities. You could see all of Amity Park from the tops of trees.

His green eyes flicked lazily from the couples walking hand-in-hand across the park and then to his own home. The school was empty, just as Danny expected. After all, what why would a teenager be at school after it had just ended? Of course, Danny wished that some of them were in the school—it was much easier to protect the whole city when there weren't teenagers milling around constantly.

"Hey, loser!" a sharp female voice called from below. Danny let a smile spread across his face as he realized who it was immediately; Sam. He didn't have to look down to know her voice. But, he did look down, and saw her standing next to Tucker (who was clacking away at his PDA), a bemused expression on her face—probably due to the fact that he was sitting in a tree.

"Who are you calling a loser?" Danny chuckled as he fell from branch to branch gracefully, like any predator. He finally stopped while he was still cloaked in the canopy of trees, yet visible to Sam and Tucker. Tucker looked up at him, his teal eyes glinting slightly. Sam stuck her tongue out at him.

"You," she told him rather wistfully. "But what ever. Come on, your parents told us to come get you."

"Why?" Danny asked, confused and a little worried. Had they figured out he was part ghost? _No,_ he told himself firmly. Besides, if Sam and Tucker had any thought in their head that that was the reason why they were calling him, they'd look much more worried than they did at that moment. They looked more like they were amused rather than upset about a possible Danny Phantom coverage blown.

"I think they have a new weapon," Sam said carefully, trying not to make Danny flinch. But it was no use. Every time Danny's parents made a new weapon, they got closer and closer to one that could actually kill—or dissect—Danny in less than a minute. It was impossible _not _to flinch when you were almost positive your life was at stake from your parents, yet again.

Tucker looked sheepishly up at him. "Sorry, man," he said as he shoved his PDA in his pocket. Danny quickly transformed into Danny Fenton, his alter-ego, and jumped down from the tree branch. Sam and Tucker looked around, making sure no one saw Danny changing as Danny dusted himself off and plucked all the leaves out of his hair. No need for his parents to know he had just spent the last four hours sitting in a tree and looking for ghost activities.

"Okay, then," Danny sighed wearily as the trio began to walk away from the park and towards Danny's house. Danny was dreading which new contraption his parents had built this time; was it something that found ghosts in the house constantly? Or was it a new way to split a ghost, 'molecule by molecule'? He shuddered at the last thought, not wanting to think for a moment how painful it would be to become split in half—literally.

They walked into his house, Sam staring at Danny worriedly, Tucker looking confused and bemused, and Danny just looking very worried. Before he could hide his face from his parents, Maddie and Jack popped up in front of them, holding a very distressed-looking Jazz in their clutches, maddening smiles on both of their faces. Jazz glared at Danny, her soft eyes screaming at him that it wasn't as bad as they thought—it was worse.

"Hey, Danny!" Jack boomed loudly, causing Jazz, Sam, Tucker, and Danny's heads to vibrate. "Guess what we found out!"

"Er…what?" Danny asked weakly, almost not wanting to know what he had found out. Sam let fear flash across her face as Tucker patted his PDA carefully, ready to shut down anything Jack or Maddie threw at them. Jazz tried to break free of her father's clutches, but it was impossible—his forefinger could have wrapped around her arm in a flurry of defeat. She stood no chance for his whole hand.

"We've figured out that humans can be ghosts also! But here's the thing; they're still human…_yet their ghosts. _How awesome is that?" Maddie nearly started jumping up and down with joy as she proclaimed the words. Her grip loosened on Jazz's arm while she tugged at it defiantly and broke free. She dug her fingernails in between Jack's massive hand and pried him off of her. Finally free, she dodged away from her parents and joined the line of teenagers, happy to be considered a quote: 'child' for once.

"That's great," Danny told them weakly, trying to hide his paling face, sure that if they saw it they would know his secret. Sam froze beside him as Tucker's fingers twitched by his side, regretting for once that they didn't throw him a weapon such as the 'booo-merang' or something that could be deactivated quickly and easily. "How'd you manage that?" After all, he was sure they all—including Jazz—wanted to know _that_ piece of information. Surely they hadn't figured out Danny was part ghost…or Vlad…

"We finally found ghost DNA," Maddie gushed, while at the same time Jack was shouting, "We were looking at one of our ghost thermoses and boom!" Danny couldn't stop himself—his face turned chalk white as he realized his parents had found _his_ DNA. He hoped to the gods that they hadn't realized the DNA matched their son's…

Maddie stepped aside to let her husband tell the story, knowing that her voice was weak in comparison to his, and would most likely not be heard if she even tried to. "We found ectoplasm and looked at it under the microscope and then we saw that there was a DNA strand that looked similar to a humans so we compared one of our DNA strands and WHAM—it matched as well as matching that of a ghost's DNA so we realized that it is possible for ghost DNA and human DNA to merge together," he said in one outrageously long run-on sentence, never pausing to take a breath.

Danny felt as if the room was closing in on him. His onyx hair felt plastered to his face uncomfortably, perspiration dripping down his face as if the room was as hot as a furnace. His turquoise eyes were pulled into slits as he tried to unravel what his parents had told them.

_Okay, _he told himself firmly. _So they found my ectoplasm. At least they haven't figured out that it was _me, he told himself in a calming tone. _They don't know it was their son. At least they didn't get that far into the equation._

"Oh," he said. "That's cool."

Sam was still stiff to his right, Tucker's face fighting not to twitch. Jazz's arms were folded in anger as she glared up at her parents hatefully. Danny wasn't sure where she came along in the problem, but he didn't care at the moment. All he cared about was that his parents might have found out his secret.

"So we're going to keep trying to figure out how to create one of these human-ghost hybrids!" Maddie exclaimed happily, as if that were something to be overly excited about. "We won't give up until we find out how to make one…or, who ever that one was. If we can find him or her, then we'll just rip them apart, but until then…," her voice trailed off as she beamed at her two children and their friends as if she had just won the Noble Peace Prize. Danny gulped slightly.

"Well, we have a lot of homework," Danny struggled as he grabbed Jazz's, Sam's, and Tucker's arms in a death grasp. "We better get working on it. Jazz can help us—she promised at school. Have fun with…what ever you're doing." Danny slipped past his parent's disappointed faces and up the stairs, where he collapsed on his bed angrily.

"Shit," he said. "Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit."

"Dear Lord," Jazz moaned, looking at the door with an upset expression.

"How did you get dragged into this?" Sam asked hastily.

"I can't believe this," Tucker said as he pulled out his PDA to make a quick mental note to remind Danny to make sure that none of his DNA get left _anywhere _on the ghost hunting equipment.

"They questioned me," Jazz told them in a bitter voice. "'Do you know who the ghost-human hybrid is?' 'Do you know how it left the ectoplasm on the thermos?' 'Do you know anything about it?' Blah, blah, blah. I just kept denying everything. I hope they believe me." She made a face at the last comment.

"I bet they did believe you," Danny told her wearily as he stared up at his ceiling to get away from the tension-filled glances that everyone kept giving him. "Otherwise don't you think they'd continue badgering you or what ever?" Jazz nodded at his statement, her eyes as brooding as Danny's.

"How are we going to deal with this?" Sam asked after a few quiet moments of intense angst.

Danny shrugged and closed his eyes, sitting up in bed and reaching out blindly for his backpack. He grabbed it and clutched it to his chest as if it were a life saving device. When he opened his eyes again, he looked almost upset and embarrassed.

"I dunno…but we still have that English paper to write." He unzipped his backpack and grabbed his notebook and pen from it, staring up at the disbelieving faces shakily.


	2. Tired Ignorance

Yaay chapter two!

This is also written in someone else's POV...so beware...hah!

More is coming soon. I just had to write the second chapter...this is too much of a fun story to forget about...hahaha! Thanks again Kitten (who I have found out is Phantom2B! -gasps-

Oh...thanks for the reviews guys. :3 And to the person who begged me to continue; I don't cancel out on my stories unless their reaal bad or innapropriate. And I think this is an okay FF, and it's not that bad.

And yes, Kitten, I make them curse. -rolls eyes and laughs happily-

TOAST WUFFS YOU ALL!

**Disclaimer: She dun own DP. Wah.**

Enjoy!

* * *

"Danny," someone called through the mist, his voice soft and almost lyrical in the dregs of sleep. "Lancer will kick your ass if he catches you asleep again," the voice said again, sounding harsher as the veil lifted from Danny's mind.

Danny slowly opened his eyes, sleep causing them to stick together slightly. He rubbed his eyes lazily and brought his head up. He couldn't have been sleeping for more than two minutes; he didn't even remember putting his head down. Mr. Lancer was writing on the board, his back turned to the class. He was droning on about something that Danny (as well as the rest of the class) didn't necessarily care about. Danny doubted Mr. Lancer knew—or even cared about that fact.

"Thanks for waking me up, Tuck," he yawned as he raised his hands over his head slightly to stretch out the sleep-ridden muscles. Looking down to his copy of _'Salems Lot_, he realized, a little revolted, that he had drooled all over it. Ew. He grabbed a tissue from his pocket (his parents made him carry tissues) and wiped off the most he could get off. Sam smirked as Tucker tried to suppress his bursting giggle.

"What was Ben Mears thinking when he drove into 'Salems Lot and saw the Marsten House in _'Salems Lot_?" Mr. Lancer asked as he turned around and tapped the board with the back of his knuckles. No hands shot up in excitement to answer the question; everyone was bored to tears.

"How many of you actually read the assignment I gave you?" Lancer asked, his eyes narrowing into slits. Sam raised her hand lazily, as well as a group of kids scattered around the room. Mr. Lancer sighed and turned to Sam, a bit of shock on his face.

"You read it, Ms. Manson?"

"Not last night," Sam replied as if she were bored with him. "I read it in sixth grade when I was into Stephen King."

Lancer pursed his lips but ignored that. "Do you remember what he was thinking?"

Sam nodded, her soft eyes down on her paper as she doodled absently. Mr. Lancer glared at her. "Are you going to tell us?"

She shook her head. Mr. Lancer sighed angrily and turned to another kid—one of the nerds—and asked him. Danny turned Mr. Lancer and his boring discussion on _'Salems Lot _off, going back to the fight he had had the night before.

It was horrid. It wasn't with any ghosts, surprisingly; his parents saw the Ghost Boy and started shooting him down as if they were hunters and had found a rare bird. Danny dodged and dived, trying not to shoot them back but, after all, he did have to defend himself—they started the damn fight. By an extra lucky shot from Maddie, they had hit him in the chest and it took all of Danny's strength to keep consciousness as well as retaining his ghost form. He had forced himself to go intangible during the long spiral down (it was too much to try to fly away), so Maddie and Jack couldn't find him.

Sam looked over at Danny and put a reassuring hand on his forearm. "Rough night?" she mouthed. Danny nodded tiredly, staring at his copy of _'Salems Lot_ but not actually seeing it. Danny could see out of the corner of his eye Sam sigh heavily and continue doodling tiny versions of Skulker and Ember across her notebook. Tucker was playing games on his PDA under the table.

The class dragged on, but as it always did, the class finally ended. It was the last class of the day, so Danny trudged to his locker as if walking through a field of mud. He opened it and threw in his lab, math, and social studies books in his backpack lazily. He zipped up his backpack and threw it over his shoulder. He walked towards Sam's locker, where Tucker was waiting, clicking at his PDA as usual.

"What do you guys wanna do this weekend?" Sam asked. After all, it was a Friday. Tucker shrugged. Danny let his eyes fall to the ground slightly, not really wanting to do _anything_ but mope around the house. The three started walking, combat boots covering the slight steps of tennis shoes. Sam turned around to walk backwards once they got out of the school, looking at her two friends intently.

Sam sighed and glared at her two friends. "Movie fest at my place?"

Tucker shrugged. Danny didn't respond. "Okay. Then we're having a movie fest. What's wrong with you guys?"

"Tired," Tucker responded simply. Danny didn't say anything. There was nothing _wrong_, really. He was just…worried? Stressed? Something along those lines. He did need to get out of the house, though; his parents were working ferociously on figuring out a way to catch the Ghost Boy or see a ghost when they're intangible. Thanks to Danny's disappearing act.

He scowled as he realized this, causing Sam to flinch. "What? Did I say something wrong?"

"No," Danny sighed. He looked up, and seeing the expectant looks on Tucker and Sam's faces, he told them about his fight with his parents. They frowned sympathetically, but they couldn't really do anything. The fight was Danny's.

"Well, boys," Sam said, trying to cheer the two up. "Pack your bags as soon as you get home and get your butts over here." She turned onto her stoop and waved at them. Tucker waved back as Danny nodded, watching her disappear into her house.

Tucker rounded a corner towards his house. "See you later, Danny," he called out, turning to walk backwards just as Sam had done earlier.

"See you soon," Danny called out, walking towards the huge "Fenton Works" sign that had embarrassed him since birth.

---

Valerie pulled herself up, ignoring her screaming muscles around her knees. She forced herself to stay in a half-sit position, yelling at her hands if they tried to reach out desperately for the bar. After a long and painful five seconds, she let herself down again, swinging slightly, only to repeat the process. She needed the strength to fight ghosts…especially that damn Danny Phantom.

_I still have trig homework, _she thought miserably as she pulled herself back up and waited an excruciating seven seconds before letting her torso swing downwards once more. She would be worrying more about her father coming home and yelling at her for trying to 'kill' herself by hunting ghosts, but he was at work—as usual—and wouldn't be home until much after Valerie's shift. That was a fact that made her happy.

She let her eyes linger towards her walls as she extended the seven seconds to eight seconds. Thumb tacks and tape held up articles on Danny Phantom—as well as pictures taken by random people and, of course, herself. Quite a few of the articles were recent, on how "Danny Phantom saved Amity Park yet again," or "Phantom saved a cat from a tree!" Those articles sickened Valerie. How could _anyone _think Phantom was good when he had totally killed her social life and was a flipping ghost? She didn't get it. They rambled on and on how Danny Phantom was "the town's savior" and how "he helped people so much," but he was _dead_. And another thing bothered her immensely; _why the hell was he helping Amity Park?_

It could be because so many ghosts were let out there—but they had Maddie, Jack, and of course her to save them. They didn't _need _Phantom, in Valerie's eyes. Phantom was crossing the line by actually trying to save the town instead of killing it. It was so unlike ghost behavior it scared Valerie. It made her feel as if he had a very sinister plot up his sleeve, and he was going to unleash it sooner than anyone thought.

Scowling, she breathed heavily as she let herself fall after her ten second hold. Her goal was to get to fifteen; then she would slowly go down again, all the way until she was bringing herself up as quickly as she could do a one-handed pushup.

Phantom didn't make any sense to her. Ghosts just didn't _save_ towns. It wasn't their nature! They were so bitter towards humans for killing them or letting them die—the ones that attacked, at least—but none of them would be crazy enough to save humans. Even the nicest of ghosts didn't do that, Valerie was sure. She had never met any ghosts other than crazy ones and Phantom, but she had to suspect there were a few—like a smattering of pepper thrown in a bucket of salt—that weren't evil.

So what was Phantom's big dilemma? The good ghosts that were sure to be alive as ghostly means meant never tried to save them. It was just Phantom, Maddie and Jack, and her. Maybe Sam and Tucker would be found along side Phantom—that fact made her gag—but that was it.

Obviously something about Phantom's past life had made him want to help humans. But Valerie just couldn't figure it out!

_Humans and ghosts don't mix,_ she thought bitterly. So why was Danny Phantom mixing with humans by saving them? And why did Sam and Tucker like him? It was so confusing, it made Valerie want to rip her hair out.

Holding her body for fifteen seconds, she let herself sigh heavily as she wiped the perspiration from her forehead. She slowly worked downwards, going to fourteen seconds and then thirteen. Her mind, as usual, was still on ghosts.

_Phantom…Danny Phantom…DP…Phantom…_

The name. So similar to Danny Fenton's. Was it possible that they knew each other? Or was it possible that Danny Fenton was Danny _Phantom_?

Valerie slapped herself mentally, growling at herself. How could she have thought that? Danny was a nice kid; not her type exactly, but still a nice kid. It was unfair of her to think Danny was a ghost. Besides, Danny wasn't dead. Or at least Valerie hoped he wasn't dead…

Brushing the thought aside quickly, she somersaulted backwards off the bar and fell into a pushup position. She pulled one hand behind her back and forced herself to do forty pushups; a feat that would be very easy.

Her mind was again on Danny Phantom. She wanted to find him, attack him, and question him. But she wasn't strong enough yet. She knew that, too. In order to fight a ghost, one had to be as strong as that ghost; and Danny Phantom was _very _strong.

Growling, she got into the sit up position and did two hundred, rapid fire. Her hair flew around in a frenzy as she moved quickly, not even in pain; she never actually began to feel tired until her one hundredth sit up…or something around there. Sit up's were her easiest exercise.

_I'm going to find you, Danny Phantom,_ Valerie swore, her face set into a deep grimace. _I'm going to find you and ask you everything I want to know._

Once she was done (she was panting slightly), she got up to see if anyone had called or come to visit—not that she believed anyone did. She had lost all of her friends when Danny Phantom made her father lose her job.

But, a surprise was waiting outside the door; a package. It was addressed to her, and her heart fluttered slightly. She hoped desperately it was a package from Vlad, the strange man who had given her all of her ghost hunting equipment as well as her bar. She ran a knife around the taped edges and smiled at what she saw.

It was a new hover board, equipped with a new weapon; it looked like a laser-zapper. She couldn't wait to try it out.

Under the hover board laid a note. She picked it up, curious, and scanned it, her face deepening into a frown.

_Valerie Gray—_

_It is my wish to inform you that there is a species of ghost that is not just ghost, but is also human. It is rare—very, very rare to be exact—but it does happen. Their DNA becomes mixed with ghost DNA, causing them to, if you wish to put it this way, half-die. They are alive, yet dead. It may sound like their more vampires than ghosts, but they are what we call "Halfa's." It's a very rare occurrence (as mentioned), but we believe Danny Phantom may be one. If you can figure out whom he was—is—it would help you immensely._

_Valerie, I know you are strong enough to find out. Muster all of your courage and find out. _

_Sincerely, _

_You're friend,_

_Vlad Masters_

Valerie dropped the letter in shock. _Half human…half ghost? _How was that possible? It made her head spin, trying to comprehend that there were people who could be half alive and half dead.

She rested her head in her hands and moaned audibly.

Hugging the board tightly, she sat on her bed and stared at the laser. Now that she was looking at it, it looked like it sent shocks. _What did the shocks do?_

Deciding Vlad's letter might say something else, she flipped it over. Sure enough, written in small block letters, was the answer she wanted.

**New weapon; shortens out ghost powers and causes ghosts to become immobile; or in the case of Halfa's, it morphs them into their human form again.**

She clung to the letter, her face paling as she realized what Vlad wanted her to do.


	3. Sleep Over

**A/N: **I recommend the book _'Salems Lot _more than ANY of you can imagine; it's a WONDERFUL book (I only read it 'cause Darren Shan likes it XXXXXD) and I just loved it to peices. As mentioned, it's written by Stephen King. I didn't think the book was that terrifying, and I loved the movie to even bigger peices. xD  
As for the movie I mention in here; the movie is called _The Hills Have Eyes_, and I, like Sam, did not find it scary at all. It was a really good movie, and like Danny, I sided with the mutants (but not for the same reasons as Danny--more or less because I feel the same way as Sam does). As Stephen King's _'Salems Lot_, I recommend the movie if you want a rather sad and thrilling movie to watch.  
And for future reference; any book/movie I EVER mention in this fanfic or any of my other fanfics, I totally recommend them. If I don't put the title/author and you want to watch/read (or if I don't make an author's note), just note and ask and I'll gladly tell you. -smiles-

AS ALWAYS, THIS CHAPTER IS FOR MY WONDERFUL FRIEND PHANTOM2B. I WILL NOT EVER CLAIM THAT THIS STORY IS MY OWN--MY FRIEND KITTEN THOUGHT OF THE IDEA AND...WELL...I'M JUST WRITING IT FOR HER. XD GO READ HER STORIES OR DIE!

Whee this chappy was fun to write. -grins stupidly- I was kinda depressed from braces so I forced myself to write it and then I couldn't get away from it XXD

I had a lot of fun with this and it made me smile when I finished...yeah. LOL so...just read.

**Disclaimer: I'm not Butch Hartman, as I mentioned. I don't feel like going through this process, but I shall. I AM TOASTY PHANTOM, AND JUST BECAUSE I'M A FREAKAZOID LOVER OF DANNY PHANTOM DOES NOT MEAN I WILL EVER CLAIM TO OWN HIM (maybe claim to have an insane crush on him -coughs- but never own him). FWEEE!**

Okay. Get away from my hyperness and...read.

* * *

A big bowl of popcorn entered the room, wearing a plaid purple, black, and green skirt as well as purple tights ending in black combat boots. It took Danny's muddled mind a few seconds to realize that behind the huge bowl had to be Sam's torso as well as Sam's head; bowls of popcorn just didn't sprout legs, dress gothic, and start walking around rooms. 

Danny shook his head, trying to lift the fog. Sam placed the huge bowl down on the table, causing the table to vibrate slightly. Tucker licked his lips and grabbed a handful, shoving it in his mouth immediately. He looked like a chipmunk with a mouth full of acorns. Danny snorted at Tucker and grabbed a few pieces and popped them into his mouth, sucking off the butter and the little salt instead of chewing it.

"If you don't grab handfuls," Tucker said, his mouth full of popcorn, "then we'll never get this done." Popcorn flew across the room as Tucker started coughing.

"If we keep you, we won't _have _any popcorn to eat—you'll eat it all," Sam muttered as she ran to the closet to grab a broom and a dust pan. Tucker smiled impishly and grabbed two huge handfuls again.

"Sorry, Sam!"

"What ever," Sam said as she entered the room, immediately going to the popcorn that was splattered across the wall. Disgustingly, butter splayed across the white washed walls of the apartment. Gagging, Sam grabbed a towel (she had thought to bring those out) and wiped the wall clean.

Smirking slightly, Danny let his body sink into the couch comfortably, pretending all his worries and problems and especially responsibilities were sinking away as his mass melded into the couch. The couch was fluffy, comfortable, and squishy. It was an old couch, too. That made it all the more comfortable, in Danny's book.

Sam finished cleaning up and jumped into the couch, tucking her legs under herself as she curled into the corner. Tucker, on the other side of Danny, shoved more popcorn into his mouth. Sam picked up the remote and pressed the play button—she had decided to surprise Danny and Tucker with one of her newer favorite movies.

During the credits, Tucker moaned at one of the more graphic pictures. "Horror movie! What the hell, Sam?" Sam snickered evilly. Tucker flinched at the second rather graphic picture (in the credits, a rather slow song would play while a picture of landscaping rolled across the screen—and then the song would turn to shrieking and pictures of deformed people would pop up). Danny rolled his eyes at Tucker.

"Tuck? I doubt it's going to be that bad."

"But…but look at the people!" he gibbered. "Look at the dude's face! It's…scary!"

"So is your face," Sam responded idly, causing a fistful of popcorn to fly over Danny's head and into Sam's lap. Her jaw dropped open in mock anger as she flicked one of the over-stuffed pillows that were beside her into Tucker's chest. He flew back into the couch from the impact before flinging it at Sam—only to hit Danny square in the head.

"Watch it!" Danny growled, grabbing the pillow in his lap and smacking Tucker upside the head. Sam laughed, grabbing popcorn and sprinkling it in Danny's hair. Danny turned to Sam, letting a smile curl his lips, finally relaxing for the first time in a couple of days. The TV shrieked again and Tucker pulled the pillow over his face.

"I want my PDA!" he mumbled as he poked his head up to watch the TV just in time for a huge round of deformed faces and screams Sam reached over Danny and pulled the pillow away from his face, forcing him to watch the credits roll by.

"Tuck, watch," she told him in a rather freaked out voice—but she was faking and Danny and Tucker knew it. "You see those faces? That's what happens when you go on the computer too much."

Tucker glared at her and tried to grab the pillow that was behind Danny's head, but Sam stole that from Danny also, wagging a purple finger at him. "No! This is for your own good, Tucker Foley."

"Uhm. If it's about people who become freaks by going on the comp too much, then why are they showing landscaping pictures in the background?" Tucker shot back, causing Sam to smile slyly.

"Because they always played video games that had lots of landscapes in it."

"You're a retard!" Tucker shouted, causing Danny and Sam to snort with laughter. "I stopped playing that game after I found out Lancer played it!"

"Oh yeah, sure," Danny cracked, grinning from ear to ear. Tucker glared at him and brought his fist down on Danny's untidy hair.

"Hey," Danny said defensively, but Tucker and Sam knew he wasn't that miffed by Tucker's reaction.

"Okay, can we shut up? I actually happen to _love _this movie." Sam hugged the three pillows as if they were her babies, cradling her neck on them. Danny nodded, turning his head towards the TV. A very annoyed Tucker, however, sniffed.

"Why do you like the movie so much? It's supposed to _scare_ you." Tucker was watching the movie now, his head resting in the palms of both of his hands. Sam chuckled and answered, still staring at the TV screen.

"Well, this actually _can _happen; I like it 'cause it got—and gets—people thinking about how bad radioactivity is to humans. And maybe once they realize what it does they'll stop the testing on animals!" The hero's in the movie were now being introduced, looking very groggy and very un-hero material.

Tucker, just wanting to diss the movie, poked Danny. "You look better than _that _even after you fight ghosts."

"Hey! They're trying to camp out!" Sam said defensively, trying to blow off the unneeded comment on the movie.

Danny faked a scowl and turned to his friend. "Was that an insult or a compliment…?"

Tucker grinned stupidly. "Insult."

"Oh," Danny said, his eyebrows knitting together. Than; "Hey!" Tucker snickered ruefully until Sam slapped him with one of the pillows. She put a finger to her lips, signaling that she wanted him to shut up, and the three continued to watch the movie.

To Danny's amazement, he could lose himself in the simplicity of the movie. He didn't have to think, nor try to unravel any complicated plot lines. He almost forgot about his responsibilities, worries, burdens, and everything in that category. Almost. A tiny part of his mind continued to swirl around in complicated frenzies, thinking about the trig homework he needed to complete as well as the English paper on _'Salems Lot_, and he couldn't forget the US History report he had to write. He also worried that by the time the movie was over, some random ghost will have half completed his plot to world domination and had hurt somebody. He fought with himself to keep his butt glued to the couch, because he was jumpy enough to fly right out of the room in anything happened.

But, other than that, his mind was a blank slate as he stared at the TV and listened to Tucker voice his concerns for the hero's. He felt a tiny thrill of excitement prickle his spine as they did unbelievably stupid tasks, and felt himself incline towards the mutated people.

He smiled when he realized why he was siding with the mutants and not the humans. _I'm sort of a mutant myself, after all. _But as soon as the thought whipped across in his mind, it turned sour, causing his uplifted mood to crash. _Mutant…mutated…evil. Demented. Deformed. Freak. If they're crazy, and they're mutated…who's to say that _I'm _not crazy?_

A scowl pulled the soft lines of his face down harshly, dooming him to wrinkles in his old age. He folded his arms in front of him, resting his head against the back of the couch. He glared at the TV, now suddenly hating the mutants and their awful similarity to Danny Fenton—aka Danny Phantom, Ghost Boy extraordinaire.

It was unfair. Both of them—Danny as well as the crazy mutants—hadn't asked for the strangeness. Old people didn't ask to age. Cancer patients didn't ask to develop terminal cancer all over again. But it happened anyway, a cruel twist of fate given by the Supreme Being upstairs. But yet, as soon as they were giving the disease, the mutation, the sickness, or the change of DNA, they were expected to go on living normally. They were supposed to live normal lives, not complaining. They were supposed to protect every damn person and live with the cuts, bruises, and injuries he sustained from fighting—and no one was even thankful for his life endangerment?

The movie ended, leaving Danny's head in a depressed cloud. Sam and Tucker exchanged glances wearily, deciding telepathically not to do anything that would annoy Danny anymore than he obviously already was.

"I'm going to go on Ghost Patrol," Danny grunted as he quickly went ghost and flew out of the house.

Sam looked down at the ground. "He didn't like the movie?" she questioned. Tucker shrugged helplessly.

"Dunno. But something ticked him off wildly."

---

Danny's eyes were pulled into angry slits as he flew against the wind, fighting it with all his might and succeeding. He was looking for ghosts, true, but he was mainly trying to clear out his head. The movie had shaken him almost to the point where he was mad at the physical movie itself, as crazy and psychotic as that sounded. But he couldn't help it; he felt as if the movie were made to just annoy him.

He sighed and grumbled and completed his spin around the outskirts of Amity Park, just a blur up in the darkening skyline. If anyone was watching, they would only see a black streak fly across the starry sky, and then quickly fade into the blackness of night, only to reappear later, blocking more stars. No one would think twice about it; people would assume it was a star just going out from millions of light years away.

Turning into the city and going intangible, Danny began his round on the innards of Amity Park. He checked every household's windows, smiling slightly as the sleeping children rolled by, completely unaware of the ghosts that might be infecting the town and trying to destroy it from within. Cars were parked outside the houses, dust beginning to litter the light colors. The darker ones were just blurs in the night as Danny was.

He sighed heavily as all too soon he had checked ever nook and cranny in Amity Park. The only thing left for him to do was return to Sam's house, apologize for his behavior, and try not to ruin the rest of the night for Tucker and Sam.

---

Valerie got home from her night-shift at the Nasty Burger, groaning as her numb muscles fought against the remaining ten steps to the hard and chunky couch. _Dude, I get more exercise from working at Nasty Burger than doing all my pull ups and stuff here!_ Of course, Valerie didn't really believe that; the Nasty Burger just tired her out more than her exercises.

She sighed and stretched out her sore muscle legs, grabbing her backpack which was resting on the other side of the couch.

Sitting in a full split, she started to work on her trig homework, scrawling helplessly across the page. She had no idea what the answers were, and her dad couldn't afford a calculator, so she had to do a lot of the problems at school with one of the calculators, but the time they gave her wasn't enough time to complete the assignment. Wanting to growl at her backpack, she grabbed her English paper and checked over it. She decided it didn't need any more work so she threw it back into her backpack lazily.

Pulling herself out of the split, she zipped up her backpack and walked it over to her room. She walked in and grabbed the strange hover board from under the bed and studied it intently.

It felt heavy in her light grasp, making her fingers wrap tighter around the hard and reflective metal surface. It made her feel queasy to look at it; her other one was so _powerful_; and Vlad never told her which upgrades he put on new hover boards. She shuddered at the thought of how powerful she knew this new one would be.

Her mind was eager to try it out, but the rest of her body trembled at the thought of being bucked off yet again. She would have to wait until her father was asleep; she knew that. Her father would cling to her jump-suited leg for dear life and beg her not to go; she knew he needed her desperately, but he was acting like a tiny child to its mother too often for Valerie to bare quietly. She _did _need to get out; her life was not centered on being the breadwinner of the house. She was a _high schooler_; a child. She didn't _need _the extra pressure of working when she was fourteen and three quarters.

Scowling, she gingerly climbed onto her bed, fully clothed, and closed her eyes. After a few moments her hair began to prickle uncomfortably against her neck so she pulled it away, letting it fan out around her and on to her pillow.

She opened her eyes and stared up at the cracked ceiling. _I can't believe we have to live here,_ she moaned inwardly, hating Danny Phantom and his ghostly ways even more than she had five minutes before, if that was possible. The plaster hung loose on the ceiling as well as the walls, where embarrassed landlords had lazily and quickly ran small amounts of it over the holes and cracks to make the room look more appealing. But there was nothing they could do to make it look nice to Valerie; Valerie knew she was living in a rat hole, and she knew there was nothing she or anyone else could do about it. Even if the house had Brad Pitt or Johnny Depp in the room next door (or to either side of her) she'd still think that the house was a cruddy place to raise a kid.

She sighed and closed her eyes again, letting her mind sink into unconsciousness.

She was aroused to awareness when she felt a cold hand shaking her awake, it's low and throaty voice whispering in her ear.


	4. Difficult Promises

-dances around happily- Chapter four! Woot! I'm actually writing a SERIES! I'm so proud of myself. -tears-

There is DannyxSam in here LIGHTLY. I'm saving most of that...I might not even use it. -shrugs-

Oh...and thanks for all the reviews! -gathers you all and hugs you tightly- It makes me very very happy to read the reviews. I squealed and laughed at a lot of them, too. It really made my day to read how much you guys enjoyed the story. So...thanks **sooo** much!

Once again, this idea is by Phantom2B. Love the story? Love the idea-creator. -nods-

I should have chapter five soon. I hope? XXD I probably will very soon.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom, nor will I ever claim to.**

And...that's it! Enjoy, my friends. xD

Oh and excuse any spelling/gramatical errors you incounter. I forgot to mention but in chapter two I accidentally first said "it made Valerie want to rip her head out" and I just had this horrible image of Valerie ripping her head off. It made me giggle and also made me feel sick at the same time. XXXXD So tell me and I'll fix immediately. Thank joo.

* * *

The cold hand lifted off of Valerie's heated skin, causing that section of her arms to erupt in goosebumps. Much to her displeasure, the hand came back onto her mouth, stopping her from screaming. She snapped open her eyes and stared into the grey eyes that belonged to her employer, Vlad Masters. 

"Hush down, child," Vlad soothed, his voice silken butterscotch. "I just wanted to visit you and give you some moral support. With the racket you were making, I fear you have just woken up the entire _building_."

After seeing the calming grey eyes and the snowy-white hair, Valerie felt her heart slow down from its thousand-mile-an-hour pace. Once Vlad realized she wasn't going to scream or howl with concentrated anger, he let his cold hand move slowly away from her mouth.

"Your hands are cold," Valerie noted, rubbing her cheeks. "But…_Vlad Masters_…why are you here?"

"I just explained that to you, Valerie," Vlad said in a calm voice. "I want to give you some moral support and some information that I could not give to you though a letter for fear of confiscation."

Valerie sat up, trying to roll the kinks out of her neck. "Uhm. Okay." Vlad smiled and held out a hand like a true gentleman, offering help for Valerie so she could stand up. Staring at him suspiciously (no one had ever done that for her before), she took his hand and got up carefully. Vlad smiled, but an unknowing Valerie couldn't see the malice behind it.

"Okay…come into the family room," Valerie said, leading him to the couch. Vlad walked in front of her and sat down gracefully, while Valerie sat down and folded her legs into the pretzel position. The two stared at each other, Vlad smiling pleasantly, Valerie staring.

Finally Vlad spoke. "I want to inform you that I am going give you one of my clients to help you on your quest to find the Halfa in your town."

Valerie raised an eyebrow. "'Clients'?"

"Dear Valerie," Vlad chuckled. "You surely do not believe I do not have clients? Of course I do. Where do you think I get all of my equipment from?" He raised an eyebrow at her. "I need ghosts to test them out on, and there are a few ghosts who are willing to do just that—if I give them what they want."

Flinching, Valerie's eyes hardened at the concept of Vlad working for ghosts. "But I thought you were a ghost hunter," she nearly growled. Vlad smiled softly down at her, putting a comforting hand on her back.

"I do, Valerie," he purred. "But one must sometimes befriend the enemy in order to get the big prize."

She stared at him, not really wanting to believe that her employer was in the rankings of ghosts. It made her feel weird, just thinking about it. Not wanting to look at the now sickeningly happy face, she looked down at her hands to respond.

"But…how is that exactly fair?"

"Excuse me?"

How is it fair?" Valerie asked, looking up. Vlad wasn't smiling now; it was more of a fiercely thoughtful frown. He looked up again, his grey eyes twinkling slightly.

"I'm not sure if it's fair," he said carefully, "but I don't think it really matters. Who cares if it's fair or not? It's a proven fact; to get what you want, sometimes you have to befriend the enemy. Now, whether or not the enemy is related to your prize is another matter. But just because you're friends with a ghost doesn't mean you're betraying them by hunting them."

Looking down, she considered this. What he had said was true, she knew. In order to not get detentions for handing in her homework late, she had befriended all of her teachers and explained her situation. They understood and gave her a bit of leverage on the homework bit. So…why _couldn't _she befriend a few ghosts?"

"What's its name?" she asked wearily.

Vlad smiled, flashing his pearly white teeth. "Walker."

---

The night continued as any other sleep over would, but there was a faint air of uneasiness flowing through the three friends. Danny was trying his hardest not to ruin the euphoric attitudes that belonged to Sam and Tucker, but it was nearly impossible; as they had mentioned to him many times before 'what he felt, they felt' and it was impossible not to make them feel twinges of depression.

Sam was decked out in a tank top black shirt with a purple bat on it (it cut off a bit higher than her normal shirt did and the collar was much shorter, showing more cleavage than Danny was sure he could handle) as well as purple pants—the same color as the bat—with black bats all across them. She had let her hair down, and it was jumping up and down as she bounced on her trampoline in their miniscule backyard.

Danny (in a white T-shirt and navy sweatpants) tried to jump but couldn't find the energy. Tucker, however, was jumping so hard and high that his red shirt kept flying above his head, revealing his dark belly and a bit of his white boxers before they disappeared into his grey sweatpants. His signature red beret lay forgotten on the table inside the house—he had taken it off for fear of losing it.

"JUMP DANNY, JUMP!" Sam shrieked, not worrying at all about her sleeping neighbors. If they got mad, Sam would just bribe them and that would be the end of that—Danny didn't doubt that she probably already _had _bribed them and that was why they had kept their mouths shut for such a long time.

Or maybe they just couldn't hear Sam and Tucker's screams of glee as they fell on their butts and bounced upwards, passing Danny who was standing head crazily. But Danny would bet that people in _China_ could hear Sam and Tucker's joyful laughter and shouts.

"Fine," Danny mumbled, bending his legs and forcing himself upward, flying higher than Tucker or Sam. The two cracked up in expectancy for the major jump they knew they would have when he landed. As he felt his whole body slam down on the rubber surface, Sam and Tucker flew upwards, laughing hysterically. The force from his impact onto the taut surface caused his muscles and knees to smart slightly, but he ignored it. When Sam and Tucker came back down (going higher than Danny had), they both bounced up and down slightly, causing Danny to do so also. But they all stopped, and Danny couldn't help but chuckle at their obvious enjoyment.

"Do it again! Do it again! Do it again!" Tucker and Sam chanted, giggling. Tucker struggled with his shirt to make it stick into his sweatpants, but Danny as well as Sam knew that it was no use; the shirt would fly forward again. Sam's slippers had flown off while she was in the air and were now resting on the tiny patio that she owned. Miraculously, they were both in perfect position by the steps, waiting for Sam to slip her feet into. The three giggled at how odd and convenient that was.

"You're shoes are going to eat you in the morning, Sam," Tucker chuckled as Danny let the two catch their breath. Sam raised an eyebrow, so Tucker elaborated. "They have a mind of their own! They landed in perfect position!" Sam rolled her eyes at his lame attempt at a joke. Danny smiled.

"Jump again!" Tucker demanded as the two stood up shakily. Danny rolled his eyes, fighting from letting his shoulders shake in laughter. He repeated his jumping process, Sam and Tucker enjoying it more than they had the first time. Danny, wanting to please his best friends, continued jumping for them, not ever stopping, laughing with them as he caught his own bounce and flew upward in the air as high as Tucker and Sam had—maybe even higher.

By the time they had finished, the moon was well above them (they had started jumping when night had just rolled in but everything was illuminated in a blue-ish glow). Danny estimated that it was about ten o'clock at night; probably even later. It wasn't exactly cold, but goosebumps were rising on his arms as he stood still and let the wind flow across his sweaty flesh.

"Gosh it's cold," Sam acknowledged, rubbing her arms slightly and shivering. Tucker nodded, shivering slightly also. "Let's go inside," she declared.

Sam's parents were away for the week and her grandmother in Las Vegas gambling her heart away (and quite possibly the apartment also), so the three didn't even wonder if her parents were home. As they entered the house Sam walked to the stereo and threw in one of her more depressing CD's, only to return to the kitchen and throw a pizza into the oven.

Danny leaned against the refrigerator lightly, Tucker sitting calmly in one of the chairs. Sam perched herself on top of the table and smiled at Danny. Danny forced himself to smile back even though he was positive it looked fake. There were some times when you just couldn't fake something. His cheeks felt like rubber, his eyes hard and insisting that he was not full of the mirth that Sam and Tucker were full of. Sam stopped herself from sighing; she had thought that maybe the trampoline would lift his mood, but she was wrong.

"Danny, what the hell is wrong?" she asked without thinking.

Tucker choked on air, probably trying to hide a snort of laughter at her bluntness. Danny's eyes widened as he slowly raised an eyebrow, surprised at her bluntness also.

"Nothing's wrong," Danny said, folding his arms and standing straight.

"Liar," Sam nearly snarled. Now that she had the initial question out of her mouth, she wasn't going to give up so easily.

"I'm not lying!" Danny lied, eyes narrowing into dangerous fireballs of liquid turquoise. "Everything's peachy. Peaches 'n' cream."

Sam glared at him. "No, everything is not! You've been so lethargic all night. You can tell us what's eating you. Come on…we just want to help…," Sam pleaded, letting her voice drop as she finished her distressed sentence. Danny sighed and looked the other way, his messy onyx hair flinging in front of his face at the abrupt change in position.

"It's just…stuff," he said airily, trying to blow it off.

But Sam was not easily swayed.

"Tell us _what _stuff, Danny!"

"Yeah…Danny—we can help," Tucker added for Sam's benefit. Danny shot him a glare, causing Tucker to flinch into the back of his seat.

"_Nothing is wrong_," Danny insisted stubbornly. "I promise you that; nothing I can't handle on my own. And Sam? The pizza's burning."

"Crap," Sam muttered, jumping off the table and onto the tiling. She opened the oven, and in fact, the pizza was not burning; it was just right. She pulled it out and laid it gingerly on the stove, turning back to Danny, oven mitts on her hands, and raised a threatening finger to him—but of course the mitt made it look comical.

"If you're lying to us, you're in big trouble," she growled.

Danny shrugged. "Not lying," he lied.

_Here you go, lying to your friends, _a small voice in the back of his head—his conscious—yelled at him. _Tell them there is something wrong! You're stressed, ghosts are freaking out, and what else is _right?

Tuning out the tiny voice, he stared at the floor. "Nothing's wrong. I promise," he insisted, but to no prevail.

Tucker and Sam knew him too well to believe stupid promises.

_I promised myself that Sam and Tucker wouldn't ever get hurt, _Danny swore to himself. _But that's impossible. Either they get hurt physically—which I can't stand to see—or they get hurt emotionally. There's no way to win; they'll get hurt anyway. But…when I made that promise I meant physically. So I'm protecting them, right, by not telling them? _

"Promises can be broken," Sam said sharply, turning to the pizza and cutting of Danny.

Danny shivered. He didn't believe she had just read his mind; how could she have? But her last statement had left a chilling brand into his heart, causing him to feel sicker than he normally did and ridden with worry.


	5. Confusing Mishaps

Hahaha...fifth chapter...woot?

Uhm...this was fun to write...I'm aiming for the story to be ten chapters but it will most likely be longer. -shrugs- If you can't tell...-pokes all my stories- I'm not good at writing series'...I prefer oneshots but I wanted to drabble in a series so here I am. xD

Anyway, this is the fifth chapter and the sixth chapter is currently being written. So...hahaha yeah.

Oh and answering a review; yeah, I love Valerie, so I try to include her POV when I'm writing an FF that's based somewhat on her. I know so many people don't like her but I thought the DannyxValerie couple was cute...but nothing beats the DannyxSam couple, which is why I didn't flip when Valerie dumped Danny. -shrugs-

Okay. Idea from Phantom2B, blahblahblah...

**Disclaimer: I'm not Butch Hartman, blahblahblah...**

Annd here you go!

--**EDIT--  
**Let me give my undying thanks to **Beo **(anonymous review) and to **The Fluff Ghost** for catching my slip up. I accidentally called the Specter Speeder the Fenton Speeder. I've fixed it and I'm almost one hundred percent positive all the FS's are changed to SS's. I just wanted to say THANKS SO MUCH you guys! I'll try to remember to mention it in the sixth chapter (I'm forgetful) but I'm not sure if my brain will remember. -winces- So...thanks SO much! I love reviewers who point out my faults. -hugs- It's what I get for not being obsessed with DP for six months...-scoffs-

--**DOUBLE EDIT T.T**--  
I forget the penname of the person who informed me of my second goof up (I'm so sorry...check the reviews) but...yeah...thanks so much...person. T.T -is totally forgetful-

* * *

"Danny?" Jazz asked, poking her head into the kitchen. Danny looked up from his bowl of cereal and forced his scowl to morph into an interested stare. It was ten o'clock, and Sam had ushered everyone out at nine. Her parents were doomed to be home at noon and she needed complete silence to clean and then to mourn. Danny had more or less stalked home after that, still in a bad mood from the previous night.

"Yeah?" he asked, his words sounding odd to himself.

Jazz's orange hair waved into the room before her actual head came back in. Her blue eyes searched Danny's face for any hint of the depressed and angst-filled brother she had had to live with for the past six months. When, like any good physiatrist, she found it, she glared but continued asking her brother her original question.

"Have you seen mom and dad? They've been pretty…_invisible _the past night."

"They're off hunting, Jazz." Danny stared at her as if she had two heads.

"I know that," she snapped in an annoyed tone. "But they normally tell me when their about to leave and they didn't this morning!"

"How late did you sleep?" Danny asked, picking up his still full cereal bowl and dumping it into the sink. "They might have wanted to leave you to sleep, you know." Jazz sighed and came into the room, her eyebrows knitted together.

"Yeah, but I woke up at five thirty to work on my thesis."

"Oh."

"Yup. So where are they?" Jazz asked, almost aggravated. Danny leaned against the counter and stared at his sister. He shrugged.

"I don't know. Did you check the basement?" Jazz nodded at his question, which made Danny purse his lips. He knew, as well as Jazz, that they were obviously hunting or something along that sort; but why didn't they leave at least a note to Jazz? That was unlike them, and both of them knew. They _always _gave some inkling to where they were for their children, and this time should have been no different. Danny pushed himself away from the counter and stretched out his fingers slightly.

"I'm gonna go check the basement," he told her, walking towards the door. Jazz nodded and followed suit, wringing nervously at her black shirt. The two descended carefully (the light switch was down at the bottom), and as soon as Danny flicked on the switch he noticed a lot of things out of place.

"Where's the Specter Speeder?" he snapped at Jazz. Jazz, taken aback by the strange question, cocked her head.

"Specter Speeder?"

"Yeah! The Specter Speeder. Where is it? Normally its right around the front of the portal…," Danny let his voice trail off as he searched the entire basement. During further inspection, Danny noticed a lot of things missing; his parents more trustworthy weapons, a few jumpsuits, screwdrivers and hammers. But there was no sign of the Specter Speeder in the basement.

"I've never seen a 'Specter Speeder,'" Jazz acknowledged suspiciously, obviously forgetting the one time she had ridden in it. She stood wearily by the stairs, looking very out of place and too casual against the steel frames of the walls.

Danny turned to his sister, fighting to keep his eyes from widening. He, also, looked very strange and much too casual against the stainless steel countertops and the huge cabinets that were his background. "You've never seen it? But…Mom and Dad always kept it in here!"

"How much time do you think I spend down here?" Jazz asked weakly, trying to defend herself and make her brother's suspicions that she wasn't observing well drop off of her. "I'm in here, what, once every two, three months? Last time I came down here you, Sam, and Tucker were in the ghost zone. I didn't see it."

Wincing, Danny walked towards the Ghost Portal and glared at the closed doors. "Oh," he muttered. The doors were firmly closed; there was no way any ghost…or human…could get out. But where was the Specter Speeder? And the Specter Speeder did have a button that opened the doors in case of an emergency…

"Oh, damn," Danny mumbled, realizing where the Specter Speeder undoubtedly was. Jazz raised an eyebrow at his uncharacteristic cursing.

"What?"

"Mom and Dad took the Specter Speeder!" Danny moaned, turning to face his sister. Many emotions splayed across her face; confusion, worry, surprise, recognition, and finally shock. She stared at her brother.

"So…they're in the ghost zone?" she guessed, not exactly rememberng what the Specter Speeder was but putting two and two together. Danny nodded dumbly, to angry and shocked to speak. How could his parents have been so _stupid_? They never used the Speeder Speeder—it was solely for an emergency—and even though they were the creators no one knew how to work it as well as Sam or Tucker did. Danny hardly ever went into the ghost zone without _at least_ the Fenton Phones with him, Sam and Tucker on the other line; and his parents didn't even tell their children where they were going.

"Why?" Jazz asked, almost sickly. Danny shook his head signaling that he didn't know. He forced himself to make words that Jazz would be able to comprehend come out of his mouth.

"Probably to look for a Halfa," he told her shakily. Jazz flinched, remembering the argument from two days ago too perfectly. Danny nodded weakly, telling her silently that her reaction was a perfect reaction for their current situation.

"So what are you going to do?" Jazz asked after a few heavy seconds. Danny imagined himself trying to blow away the almost tangible angst in the air as he gestured to the Ghost Portal.

"Find them," he said simply.

---

Vlad smirked broadly as he pressed a button on his watch, watching Valerie's shocked expression when a swirling green mass vortex spun out of it. Walker, already waiting for his call, popped out. Vlad let go of the button, causing the vortex to dissolve. He held his rule book tightly in his hands, his white and lucent skin almost see through.

"Hello Vlad Masters. Hello Valerie Gray," Walker, his voice as rugged as always. Valerie stared up at him, trying not to let her gaze seem hateful.

"Hello, Walker," Vlad smirked. "This is Valerie Gray, as you know. Valerie, this is Walker, the warden at the Ghost Jail. He will be helping you when you call him. Valerie, tell him what you will be wanting from him."

"Er," Valerie said, unsure of what she actually _did _want from the huge ghost. Walker's face was set into a hard grimace. "Er…when I call you…will you help me fight the ghost that is terrorizing my town?"

"Which ghost is that?" Walker asked harshly.

"Danny Phantom," Valerie responded, unable to keep the bitterness from creeping into her voice. Walker's lips curled into a sneer at the mention of the infamous Ghost Boy's name.

"Ah, Danny Phantom," he responded coolly. If it weren't that his voice was so rough it would have sounded like a purr, but to Valerie it sounded like razors cutting into her brain. She fought against wincing, not wanting to offend the ghost that she seemed to be on good terms with. "I have hunted that ghost for a long time. Is he still Amity Park's 'Public Enemy Number One' or did he fight his way out of that…like he's fought out of all of my little traps?"

"He's a hero now," Valerie spat, angry as the memories flooded into her. She hated how the town just suddenly embraced Danny Phantom; it was unfair. He was a damn _ghost_!

Walker nodded, understanding completely her livid facial expressions. "I see. I expected that," he told her almost idly. "So when you call me…I shall come and help you with Danny Phantom. Agreed? Oh, and while in the Ghost Zone, I'll look for your little trouble maker. He has broken too many rules to get away with, now."

Valerie nodded weakly. Vlad smirked and shook Walker's hand, his way of saying 'thank you for not mentioning anything else.' Vlad pressed the button again and Walker jumped into the swirling green vortex.

Vlad smiled at Valerie. "There. See, that wasn't so bad, was it?" Valerie looked out the window and stared as the rain pelted down to the ground, splattering it with water, only to evaporate when the sun came back out, and then get transferred into another cloud to be rained out once more. The cycle of weather. Life was like that also, she decided bitterly. Everyone is expendable just as every raindrop is in the grand scheme of life; as soon as you disappear, someone comes to take your place.

"I guess it wasn't," she responded stiffly. Vlad grinned at her.

"Well, my work is done now," he told her calmly. "If you need me…just call." He handed her a piece of paper with a 608 area code before walking out of the room lithely. Valerie stood up and raced into the family room to thank him; for everything he had given her. But he was gone.

---

Danny took a deep breath and waved to his sister, in his ghost form. She opened the Ghost Portal just enough to let Danny slip through. He quickly went in, and once Jazz saw that every part of him—from his mousy hair to the tip of his ecto tail—was in the Portal, she slammed the doors shut.

Hands stretched above his head, Danny dived downward as well as upward, eyes scanning everyone and everything that floated in the misty green. The Fenton Thermos wouldn't help him in here, and most other weapons besides his hands, feet, ecto energies, and his infamous Ghostly Wail. All in all, not a good collection—his shields were still slightly weak, and his Ghostly Wail was out of the question. He couldn't keep his ghost form afterwards, and the last thing he needed—and wanted—was to turn human in the ghost zone, surrounded by his enemies.

There was no sign of the Specter Speeder. He looked left and right, unable to see even a trail of it. He searched harder than he thought possible, but he couldn't find it.

---

"Jack," Maddie called, pushing a cart in front of her. "Do you think Danny likes this cereal more, or this cereal?"

Jack turned around, hands full of chocolate bars. "I think he likes the chocolate kind!" he declared. Maddie smiled.

"No, Jack, that's _you_."

"Oh, right! Get him the one with the tiny ghosts in it—he likes ghosts!"

Maddie sighed now. "Jack? That's you and I again. I'll just get both. If he doesn't like either of them, Jazz will eat them, I'm sure." She dumped the two cereal boxes into the cart, which was now looking rather overloaded thanks to Jack's candy bars. She tapped her chin and grabbed peanut butter and then jelly, figuring that Danny and Jazz still liked peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

"Do you think we should have left a note for them, saying where we are?" Maddie asked as they walked towards the dairy section. Jack shook his head.

"Naw, it's okay. They know shopping trips take a long time!"

"That's because we're also looking for ghosts," Maddie muttered lowly so Jack couldn't hear. "I guess you're right," she added in a louder voice, grabbing a carton of chocolate milk for Jack. "I'll make fudge when we get home," Maddie declared.

Jack clapped. "Can you cut them out into little ghost shapes?"

Maddie nodded, hiding her exasperated sigh behind a smile.

---

Just as Jazz was about to leave, in a secluded corner of the basement—behind the stairs, the one section Danny had not checked very thoroughly—she saw something silver glint maliciously. Curious, she walked towards it and saw the big 'SS' on the side.

"Oh," she declared weakly.


	6. Ghost Prison

Konnichiwa! -waves- Sixth chapter! Wootness!

**Reviews: **Okay...yes, I know it was sketcheh that a 40 year old dood was sneaking into a 14 year old's room but...XXXXD he didn't do nuttin bad besides wake her up. So...dun worry. xD Vlad is not turning...eh...gross. (lol **SquirrelGirl13** for pointing that out to me xD)  
And I just want go give SO much thanks to my reviewers **Beo** (ano review), **No One Wants To Be Around Me **(ano review) and **The Fluff Ghost** for catching my slip ups; 1.) That I called the Specter Speeder the Fenton Speeder accidentally (what I get for not loving DP to pieces for six months T.T), 2.) For forgetting that Jazz HAS seen the SS (I fixed that, saying she forgot about it), and 3.) for forgetting that humans were the ghosts in the Ghost Zone. :O Let me first say this; he would be too weak to do anything if he went human after using the Ghostly Wail in the Ghost Zone, so that's why he was nervous. -nods- And I mention that he could go human in this chapter so forgive me my reviewers. And thanks so much for all the reviews...especially all the wonderful ones on _Fade Away_. -tears-

This is totally irrellivant but I have the worlds most spoiled cat ever. o.o She's such a turd! Her name's Black Magic but I call her Magic for short, and she's like the billboard black-witch cat. Bright green eyes, black fur, but she has a white-ish chest and she has lots of little brown specks along her back but she's still purdy. And she KNOWS that she's a pretty little cat. -pets her- Anyway I was reading _Midnight Predator _by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes (Gawd she rocks you all should read her books) and she wanted to be petted so she jumped on my stomach (I was lying down) and head-butted the book from my hands. I was like "O.O hello kitty!" -laughs- Sorry I just had to talk about that...it was too funny.

Anywayz, this story is, as always, for my friend Phantom2B because she let me use the idea. xD Oh and I forgot to mention that my friend wolves-eye thought of the title. -smiles- love you guys!

**Disclaimer: I am Toast, the rabid fangirl--not Butch Hartman :(**

Enjooooyyy 3 Correct me on any faults...lol

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Valerie grumbled slightly and pulled her knees up to her chest, staring out the grimy window in her bedroom. Children sloshed in the puddles, spraying their very disgruntled mothers with mud as they hurried their children away from the menacing building. People hid behind umbrellas, frowning deeply against the cold water that trickled down their faces and made them shiver uncomfortably. 

She sighed and glared down at the kids who didn't have to work two jobs just to help their fathers make ends-meet. She envied the small children who could go home to their warm apartments and play with their dollies. She had to come home from yet another excruciating day of high school, do her homework, and then jet off to one of her jobs; either at the Nasty Burger or the supermarket. It was unfair, but what could she really do? It was the Ghost Boy's fault. Nothing else.

Grumbling slightly, she ripped her gaze away from the window and stood up off of her bed. It was a _Saturday; _the one day she had off of work. She was going to make the best of it. And if that meant hunting down ghosts, then she was going to.

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Danny came to an abrupt halt when he saw a hulking silhouette in front of him. He knew only too well who the silhouette belonged to; after being thrown into his prison it was impossible not to know. But he hoped that maybe he could slip away from the ghost…unseen…

No, he couldn't, and he knew he couldn't; the ghost was coming towards him. Even though he couldn't see his face, he could swear Walker's lips were pulling into a smirk as he saw Danny Phantom alone in the Ghost Zone, defenseless.

Danny didn't know where to go or what to do. He could always run into one of the many doors that littered the green haze, but he knew that where ever he went, Walker would follow. He bit his lip and let his eyes scan fervently, but to no avail. He was going to have this run-in with Walker whether he liked it or not.

"Danny Phantom," Walker said coolly as he walked towards Danny. "I thought I told you to stay away from here. You are breaking the rules."

"Shove it up your ass," Danny muttered under his breath, making Walker's eyes sharpen with anger. "I thought I told you_ your_ rules don't apply to _me_," Danny shot back, louder this time. Walker hid his anger with a pleasant smile, but Danny could see that his eyes were thirsting for his blood now.

"Indeed you did. But my rules have changed, and now, they _do _apply to you." Walker tapped his rule book against his thigh, his green eyes narrowing into slits as he stared down at Danny. Danny tried to overcome the look of puzzlement he knew would fly across his face if he didn't unravel what Walker had meant. New rules? That didn't make any sense. Walker didn't like change, so why would he create new rules? Was it because Danny had freaked him out during his last encounter with him, or was it something else?

"Oh really?" Danny said, unable to think of a good comeback. Walker smiled menacingly.

"Yes, really, Danny Phantom. My new rules require that I cause you as much pain as possible without completely killing you." Walker was bluffing slightly, but it had the effect he wanted; Danny flinched and glared up at the six foot ghost who ran the ghost prison. Danny tried to hide his discomfort, however, and hid behind a cocky smile and a glint in his eyes.

"Who are you serving now, hmm?" Danny mocked. "Vlad? The Fright Night? Wulf?" Walker glared down at Danny at the mention of Wulf's name. He hadn't forgotten that the only reason his most prized prisoner had gotten away was because of Danny.

"Neither," Walker growled. "But it's none of your business, so I will not share who my new master is."

Shocked at the fact that he was right—Walker was serving a different ghost—Danny was too preoccupied to fight the wardens who popped up all around him. He wasn't expecting it, and even if he was, he doubted he would have been able to get away without the handcuffs binding his wrists together.

"Let me go, Walker," Danny snarled angrily. "If I go human, I can get out of these quicker than you think—" but Danny was cut off by Walker's annoying laughter. The warden's held Danny by the scruff of his turtle-neck collar, causing him to want to lash out and slash their faces; but, number one, he refused to give into the temptation and two, he wouldn't be able to even if he tried—the handcuffs were stronger than he had expected.

"Surely you realize that we've upgraded our equipment since your last encounter with me in my zone?" Walker bent down and shoved his face into Danny's, giving him a full blast of his horrid breath. "If you even try to go human, you'll get electrocuted by the handcuffs. Clever, huh?" he breathed, his nose touching Danny's. "And if you somehow manage to break free of them—which is improbable and I'm sure impossible—even_ if_ you go human and go intangible, my wardens will bring you down quicker than you can fly out." Walker grinned and pulled away from Danny.

Danny didn't doubt for a moment that Walker was telling the truth.

"Take him away, boys," Walker laughed. The wardens sent a shock through Danny, causing Danny to bare his teeth and hiss through them in attempt to not scream in agony. The warden holding his collar jerked him up slightly, dragging him. Danny realized, a little late, that his feet were also cuffed, hence the fact they were dragging him. Apparently they didn't trust him enough to fly on his own; they all knew Danny would make a run for it, whether that caused him to get shocked or killed a different story.

The group trudged to the prison, finally throwing Danny in a small cell. They kept his hands cuffed, but they took off his feet cuffs; there was a warden by Danny's cell that would send out a shock—how ever strong the warden wanted it—if Danny did anything he didn't like.

That included walking, Danny realized painfully.

Giving in to the shocks, Danny plopped down on the smooth cell floor, pulling his wrists apart slightly to see how much resistance it would give. Danny decided that _if_ he could go human, it would be easier to get out of them, but since he was stuck in his ghost form (which he didn't really mind) he tried to figure out a way to get out of the cuffs while maintaining the warden's trust.

Suddenly Danny had an idea. He doubted it would work, but there was always the small chance that it would; and Danny wasn't stupid enough to just give up completely. Crawling towards the warden on his haunches (a very difficult feat; you try walking on them with your hands bound together), considering all the things he could say. Finally settling on one—probably the meanest one—he stopped by the bars that held him captive and pressed his body against them, staring at the warden with round and innocent eyes.

"Hey," Danny whispered quietly. When he got no response from the warden, he tried again louder. "Hey, warden dude," he called out. The warden shifted uncomfortably, telling Danny that he had heard him.

"Can you help me out?" Danny asked. He knew if the warden would respond it would be a no, but it was always worth trying.

The warden shocked him—Danny expected many more shocks during this trial period of trying to befriend the warden—but if it worked out, it would be worth the smarting bruises from the shocks.

"That wasn't very nice," Danny whined, banging his cuffs against the bars. "Come on, please help me out. I'm not evil. You know it's Walker who's the evil one—he's the one that captures all the ghosts around here for doing stupid stuff like 'having their sleeves rolled up.' You know you hate him." The ghost's eyes flickered towards Danny, meeting Danny's wounded gaze with upset eyes. Danny tried to hide the smug smile that was pulling at his lips; he had gotten at least a bit of the ghosts attention, and it was saying something that he hadn't shocked him yet.

"Walker's a jerk," Danny continued, keeping his voice low enough that only the warden would be able to hear him. "Come on, let me out. I can overthrow Walker if you help me."

The warden shocked Danny twice, both stronger than they were moments before. Danny once more hissed through his teeth, trying to hide the agonized howl that wanted to overcome him. The warden looked back, fear in his eyes now—apparently Danny wasn't supposed to resist screaming at that power of shock. Slapping himself mentally, Danny pulled against the cuffs and tried to stick his hands out of the bars. He got his fingers to show through, tiny spiders itching to grab anything that would knock the warden out.

"Why do you think I'm evil?" Danny questioned, wriggling his fingers more. The warden shifted away from Danny's cell slightly, obviously frightened by him. Walker must have told horror stories about Danny Phantom. Cursing the ground Walker ever dared to walk, Danny tried to continue.

"I'm not evil. That's just Walker talking crap about me. I'm _fourteen_; how can I be evil?"

Shock. Shock. Shock. Shock. Danny moaned, unable to keep as silent as he was hoping to. The shocks tingled Danny's body moments after they had stopped, pinpricks scalding his skin. Danny ignored the discomfort it brought and tried to continue. He was getting to the warden, that was for sure, and he _thought _he was going to break soon. He wasn't sure, however.

"Oww, stop shocking me." He stared at the warden, whose eyes kept flitting to him every few agonized minutes. At least Danny didn't get shocked for that. "Think about it, though. You know Walker's the evil one; don't shock me for that because you know it's true." Danny paused, giving the warden time to mull what he had said over. He didn't shock him, which Danny took for a good sign.

"If you help me I can help you and your warden buddies get out of here. I've beaten Walker once; I bet I can beat him again. Just open up these bars or lower the static on my cuffs, please?" Danny tried to keep the begging out of his voice, but it was lurking in every syllable.

"Just stop," the warden muttered.

"What? I couldn't hear you," Danny called out.

"Just shut up!" the warden told him sternly, pressing the button on his control quite a few times. Danny fell over, biting his lip and tearing it to pieces to stop from screaming. He wasn't sure why he didn't want to scream, but he just felt that it would show that he was weak and that was the last thing Danny wanted—and needed; the wardens to think he was weak. He didn't want them thinking he was evil, but he wanted them to be slightly afraid…or at least _weary _of him.

Grumbling, Danny admitted defeat and crawled over to a corner of the cell. But, just to keep the warden puzzled, he called out, "Don't ask me for any favors when the time comes, then."

Danny, huddled in a corner, let himself drift into an uncomfortable sleep. His arms were wrapped across his legs, meeting together where the cuff bound his wrists.

He was rather groggy when the warden's came into his cell and pulled him up, saying it was time for breakfast—Danny had no idea it was Sunday already. They grabbed him by his collar once more and threw him out of the cell. Wanting desperately to rub his neck, he walked towards the cafeteria—sadly he remembered where it was.


End file.
